‘New’ Texans Go To 2-0

Chris Myers said that Sunday’s win over Miami wasn’t pretty and he was right. Matt Schaub was harrassed all afternoon. A rookie running back gained over 100 yards in his debut and the Texans blew almost all of a 13 point lead.

But the important thing is they didn’t lose. In fact, when the Dolphins were seizing momentum, the Texans responded with a forced turnover, a reheated ground game and a Schaub touchdown pass to Andre Johnson that sealed the deal.

Houston is now 2-0 for just the 3rd time ever. They have never been three games above. 500 at any point in their history. Next week presents the season’s toughest challenge in a fired up New Orleans team that turned away the Bears to go 1-1.

It’s refreshing to see the Texans defense making big plays after struggling to historic proportions last season. When Miami found success running in the third quarter, it felt like the day might slide out of control.

But not with these Texans. The culture on the defensive side of the ball is decidedly different. And special teams blocked a field goal (thank you, J.J. Watt), produced some booming punts (including Hartmann’s franchise record 69-yarder) and stayed pefect on field goals (Rackers is 5 for 5).

Concerns include run defense and, to a lesser extent, pass protection. But you get the feeling that everything is correctable and this bunch will learn their lessons while winning most of their games as opposed to attending the school of hard knocks.

(credit: Marc Serota/Getty Images)

Arian Foster’s health is also a top concern but the flip side is that Ben Tate looks like a rare power back with speed. Tate’s back to back 100 yard games to start the season make one think that this zone blocking system is starting to churn out productive backs like Denver did when Gary Kubiak was their offensive coodinator.

In any case, the season is off to a good start with the schedule getting much tougher in the next two weeks with the Saints and Pittsburgh on the horizon. Houston appears to be ready for the challenge as the AFC South favorites realize they aren’t going to sneak up on anybody.